Web pleating apparatus and packaged web article



July 7, 1970 R. w. STEEVES WEB PLEATING APPARATUS AND PACKAGED WEBARTICLE Filed July 26, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 7 1970 R. w. STEEVES3,513,310

WEB PLEATING APPARATUS AND PAC KAGED WEB ARTICLE Filed July 26, 1968 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,518,810 WEB PLEATING APPARATUS ANDPACKAGED WEB ARTICLE Robert W. Steeves, Nahant, Mass., assignor toNorton Company, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts FiledJuly 26, 1968, Ser. No. 747,912 Int. Cl. B65b 63/04 US. Cl. 53-117 8Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for packaging web materialof a stiff, resilient nature by feeding a web longitudinally,accordian-pleating it along longitudinal fold lines, holding the pleatedform and cutting to desired length. The resultant article is a compactpleated form of the web, which may be further compacted by rolling abouta transverse axis and secured by confining in a package sheath.

This invention relates to pleating web materials of stiff nature, suchas polyester or other plastic films or film laminates, which cannot takea so-called dead-fold (compare, e.g. paper webs which do readily take adead-fold). The invention also has application to other materials ofsimilar resilient properties such as certain textiles woven fromsynethetic plastic fibers.

BACKGROUND Accordian pleating apparatus is known for packaging paper andcloth webs to realize the inherent advantages of accordian folding ineasy unfolding (US. Pat. 3,286,- 435) and for longitudinally pleatingpaper and cloth webs to expedite later processing (U.S. Pats. 2,538,671and 3,260,639). See also U.S. Pats. 2,494,431, 2,862,542 and 2,876,824.

OBJECTS It is an object of the invention to provide an improvedapparatus particularly suitable for pleating stiff, resilient webspleats folded along longitudinal fold lines.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such apparatuscapable of continuously pleating very Wide webs, particularly of stiffresilient material, in excess of two feet width and typically five feetwide with protection against the marked tendency of such webs to losethe pleat form in the course of pleating.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the foregoingapparatus in combination with structure for securing the pleated articleby packaging or other restraining means.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a compactly packagedarticle of such web materials which is readily opened up.

The invention accordingly comprises an improved Web pleating apparatus,an improved web handling apparatus combination containing the pleatingapparatus as a subcombination or portion of a subcombination thereof,intermediate apparatus subcombinations such as the elements of pleatingapparatus and particular driving means therefor and a compacted webarticle of manufacture with longitudinal accordian pleats which may bemade with the foregoing apparatus.

It is a particular advantage and distinct feature of the apparatus thatit can handle very wide Webs, very stiff webs, slippery surface webs,webs containing scratchvulnerable metal coatings on the surface thereofor webs having any combination of such characteristics and it is aparticular advantage and distinct feature of the article that it mayconsist of any such web material and still be "ice compacted in a mannerwhich includes longitudinal accordian pleats.

Other basic objects, features and advantages will in part be set forthin the following description and will in part be obvious from thisdisclosure.

In general the pleating apparatus comprises, basically, an are formingmeans for the unpleated web and a point of initial compression of thepleated web which is the focus or center of the arc. The web convergesessentially continuously from the arc to the focus. The web is pulledthrough the compression means at a constant pre-set tension, which isvery loW-one pound per inch of web width or less and at very highspeedstens to several hundred feet per minute. The pleating apparatusmay also comprise movable radial guide means, such as rollers nesting inthe Web pleats between the arc and arc focus and movable side guidemeans to control the web edges and additional fixed springs to restrainweb depleating without continuous contact with the web.

The web handling apparatus additionally comprises drive motors andtension setting means for the web and an outlet station for finalprocessing of the web in the nature of cutting to length and securing ofthe fully pleated web.

The pleated web can be secured by stitching or heat setting the pleatedweb along the fold lines to make the pleats permanent or by simplyclipping or sheathing the pleated web or by folding along transverselines (as in Pat. 3,286,435) and securing or by rolling about atransverse center line to form a spiral of the pleated web and securing.

In the latter case, a unique article is produced which is readilyunfoldable to the full web width and length (or to portions of lengthand full width by partially unrolling the spiral and letting the exposedpleated length portion open up alongs its accordian folds to form a fanshape). The spiral is a coreless one and it may be flattened and securedin a restraining sheath package.

The apparatus and article are more particularly described in thefollowing specific description which includes reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of theweb handling apparatus in the nature of a side view drawing;

FIG. 2 is another schematic illustration of the apparatus as a top view;

FIGS. 1A, 2A, 2B and 2C are schematic illustrations of alternatives tosome of the components of the apparatus, and

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the compacted web article being packaged.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 together, a roll supply of web materiale.g.metallized polyester film in roll form, 5 feet wide--is indicated at 10.Film 11 from the roll is fed out over idle rs 12 and fed to means 20 forforming and guiding the accordian pleats and then to a final outletprocessing station 30 for securing the pleated web which in fullypleated form is referred to by the number 111 and after cutting by thenumber 112. The web length dimension referred to herein as indicated bythe arrows L and the web transverse dimension (width) is indicated byarrows T.

The pleating means 20 comprises a pair of pinch rolls 21 for compressingthe pleated web. The pleats can be initially set by hand and passedthrough the rolls. The pleating means further comprise an arc formingguide 22 which is a steel plate having a lubricating Teflon coated edgewhich is shaped to form an are substantially equal in transversedimension (width) to the web and focussed on the compression pointbetween rollers 21. Advantageously, the arc is circular with thecompression point as its center of curvature. The radius of curvature Ris selected as equal to the desired length of the final product,provided that this is sufficiently longat least in excess of half theweb width and preferably in excess of web width. The pleated web isguided over intermediate movable guide means which comprise arrays ofrollers 24 which are individually arranged essentially in a radialdirection between the are 22 and its radial center 21. The rollers aregrouped in lines extending transversely with respect to the web and atleast two such lines are at the same radial location and disposed aboveand below the web with the rollers of the two lines forming aninterleaved array corresponding to the desired pleat pattern. Therollers are all thin metal discs with rubber boots on their edges whichengage the moving pleated web with a high coefficient of friction andare driven thereby with no slip.

The guide means can also be partially eliminated for certain webmaterials. It is possible to eliminate the guide means entirely if thestiffness of the web material is substantially less than that ofpolyester film (e.g. polyethyl ene film is substantially softer thanpolyester film and can be pleated in the apparatus without guide means).Common synthetic textiles are intermediate in stiffness betweenpolyethylene film and polyester film.

The guide means advantageously include edge rolls 25 which are locatedadjacent end wheels of one or more. of the lines of wheels 24 torestrain the side edges of the web so that the web will not contracttransversely or produce an outer edge which is out of parallel with theother longitudinal fold lines. Generally the roller 25 is fiat as shownin the drawings. If the edge begins to creep from its desired position,the roller can be tilted to apply a restoring component of reactionforce. The observation of the edge can be accomplished by a photocelland controlled servomotor for tilting the wheels 25 as necessary. Likewheels 24, wheels 25 are driven by the web to avoid scratching orsnagging and to hold pleat alignment.

The pleating means includes a drive system for continuously pulling theweb through the above-described guide structure and for setting andmaintaining a constant tension. The drive is a group of synchronizedmotors simultaneously driving the source roll 10, the compressionrollers 21 and moving parts of the final processing station atcorresponding speeds. The tension is set by a metal rod 27 resting in aloop formed in the web 11. The preset tension must be one ounce per inchof web width or less and the web feed speed is 20100 feet per minute forpolyester film. The total tension is set by rod weight divided by 2. A 2pound rod has been successfully used for 56 inch polyester film web anda 7 pound rod for 56 inch polyethylene film web. In general, it isdesirable to make the speed very fast for all webs--in any event greaterthan feet per minute-since this helps in avoiding loss of pleatalignment. In general the above pleating apparatus and the finalprocessing station apparatus described below are constructed to minimizeslippage and provide positive drive without slip at substantially allpoints of contact between the apparatus and web with the apparatuscomponent driving the web or the web driving the component.

The final processing station 30 comprises means for securing the pleatedweb 111 in some fashion. In a preferred embodiment this involves passingit over a guide roller 31 and cutting it off at a desired length with ablade 34. A travelling endless belt 32 forcibly confines the pleated webagainst the roll guide 31 and where the belt is not performing thisfunction, as in the region of the blade 34, air jets from nozzles 35blowing against the pleated web or suction means within the guide rollerare provided to supplement the confining function of belt 32.

Roll 31 and belt 32 are synchronously driven with the web pleating meansdescribed above.

The cut web 112 is taken up on a collapsible mandrel 33 driven by anindependent motor 261 and rolled up about an axis parallel to thetransverse axis of the web.

The mandrel can be. collapsed to allow removal of the pleated and rolledweb.

The resultant product is shown in FIG. 3. It is folded flat in smallaccordian pleats (pleat width or less, of total web width) along foldlines substantially parallel to the web length direction L and spirallyrolled up about an axis parallel to the web transverse direction T intothe form of a straight coreless spiral.

Once removed from the final processing stage 30, the compacted form mustbe forcibly confined to prevent it from springing open. This ispreferably done by flattening the pleated and spirally rolled articleinto a block-like form and inserting it into a plastic sheath package 9.

Alternatively, the forcible confinement can be a rubber band slippedaround the rolled-up article of FIG. 3 or a spring clip or tape.

The article of FIG. 3 is easily unrolled and unpleated in whole or partas applied to a stiff web, the stiffness which makes it so difficult topleat causes it to easily open up when removed from its package. It istherefore particularly useful as an emergency or rescue blanket whenmade of thermal insulating, metallized polyester film with a width ofabout 5 feet when spirally unrolled fully and a length of 7 feet whenfully unpleated. Partial unrolling affords a fan like unpleating of theunrolled section allowing use of a limited area of the blanket. Inconnection with this application, the compacted article of FIG. 3 canhave the size of a package of cigarettes when folded although openingwhen released to a 5 foot by 7 foot blanket.

Other articles can be processed in the apparatus of FIGS. l-2. Forinstance, plastic fabrics and films can be rendered suitable for draperyuse by the addition of means for building a forcible confinement intothe pleated web such as stitching means or heat setting means, indicatedat 40 in FIG. 1. Such means may be in addition to or in lieu of theabove-described final stage apparatus 30.

Referring again to the apparatus of FIGS. 1-2, considerable variationmay be made in the details of the apparatus.

For instance, the slipping surface defined by the curving edge of arcmember 22 may be defined by a curving roller which can be driven by themoving web.

Another variation of the apparatus is shown in FIG. 1A wherein fixedspring wires 241 or other fixed restraining means are added to themovable guide means to improve the resistance of the apparatus tode-pleating of a film 11 which may have such tendency if the web is wideor stiff or both. When a troughed pleat starts to collapse, it bouncesagainst the restraining member. Through this restraining process the webfinds its proper trough level and pressure between the spring rods andweb is very light and, in some instances, intermittent or bouncing.Substantial sliding contact is thus avoided. This is particularlyimportant in handling Webs with metal coating to avoid excessivelyscratching the coating.

Referring to FIG. 2, additional restraining means in the form of fixedguides 242 are shown for arresting transverse motion of the web edgeswhich may occur when a very stiff web is processed.

An additional variation of the apparatus is the addition of a torquemotor (not shown) which is interconnected with the motors 26 to drive acentral one of the roller guides 24 in any of the transverse arrays ofsuch guides, but particularly in the last array of such guides. Thedriven roller imparts positive drive to the roller to guard againstrelative slippage which may occur across the width of a. metallizedpolyester web (e.g. Mylar film of about 1-2 mil thickness vacuum coatedwith aluminum on one side) which tend to be very slippery as well asstiff and resilient.

Referring to FIG. 2A, there is shown a variant of the initialcompression means in the form of gear shaped rolls 211 which apply alarge area of contact with the pleated web 111 to assure that there isno slip between the innermost and outermost pleats of the web. This areacontact embodiment is particularly advantageous, in comparison with thetangent line roll contact of the FIG. 1-2 rolls 21, in handling widepolyester film and other stiff and/ or very wide webs.

Referring to FIG. 2B there is shown an assembly of three compressionrolls 21 providing more surface area of contact with the web 11.

Referring to FIG. 2C there is shown another form of wind-up device (toreplace collapsible mandrel 33 of FIG. 2). In FIG. 2C the wind-up deviceis in the form of a tuning fork 331. The cut web 112 is passed throughthe center of the turning fork for a length of a few inches. Then motor261 is driven to rotate the fork and wind the cut web into the spiral ofFIG. 3. After winding the spiral can be removed from the smooth surfaceof the fork. Alternatively, the fork can be constructed so that its legsmay be collapsed towards each other to facilitate removal of thespiralled pleated web.

Another modification which is desirable in handling stilf materials isto provide a clip (not shown) mounted on and rotating with the guideroller 31 and arranged to hold the pleated web 111 against the roller.Such a clip (or clips) should be compatible with the belt 32. The cliptakes the place of air jets 35 which are satisfactory for softer websbut not for the stiff webs.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, once given the benefitof the present disclosure, that still other alternatives, variations inthe details and uses for the apparatus and/ or article can be madewithin the scope of the present invention as set forth in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for folding a long web, having characteristic length andtransverse width dimensions, in a pattern of pleated accordian foldsextending substantially parallel to the length dimension comprising:

(a) means providing a source of said web and feeding it out along thelength dimension thereof,

(b) means for compressing the web when fully pleat folded and having asmall cross-section area of initial compression,

(c) means for driving the web, at a selected tension,

from said source to said compressing means, and including means forsetting a tension of said driven web and for holding said selectedtension constant while the web is being driven, and

(d) means located along the path of the web between said source (a) andcompression means (b) and forming a curving arc with a lengthsubstantially equal to the transverse dimension of the web and which isconcave towards and focussed on said small area of initial compressionof the pleated web, the radial distance from the arc to the focal pointbeing longer than half the web width,

the said means (a)-(d) being constructed and arranged to hold the webtaut in its width dimension along the are formed by said means (d), theapparatus being constructed and arranged to provide positive drivesubstantially without Substantial sliding contact at the various pointsof contact between the apparatus and web beyond the arc.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising (e) an outlet stationwith means for cutting the web along its transverse dimension toselected lengths after it passes through the compression means and meansfor forcibly holding the pleated form of the web at least up until theweb is cut.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising means for spirallyrolling up the web into a coreless spiral roll about a center linesubstantially parallel to its transverse dimension.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising means for permanentlysetting the pleat of the web after its first compression and restrainingmeans for forcibly holding the pleated form of the web until the pleatis permanently set.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising movable guide meanslocated along the path of travel of the web between said arc formingmeans and said point of initial compression, said guide means conforminggenerally to the desired pleat form and extending generally radially andfocussed on said point of initial compression, the guide means beingconstructed and arranged to move at the same speed as the web to avoidslippage between the web and guide means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said guide means comprise at leastone array of rollers spread across the transverse dimension of the webwith alternate rollers interleaved with said rollers having highfriction surfaces so that they are driven by the web.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising fixed restraining meansin the troughs formed by the converging web between the arc and focus,the fixed means being constructed and arranged to resist spring-likeunpleating of the web without continuous contact.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising additional movable guidemeans for preventing the side edges of the web from creeping inwardlyalong the transverse dimension of the web, said additional guide meansbeing driven by the web and controlling the transverse movement of theweb edge by exerting a reaction force on the web.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

